Steve Kornacki’s latest Salon.com article: Warren vs. Christie?

Neither decision is official, but if reports this week end up being correct, this year’s party conventions will feature a stark and riveting contrast among keynote speakers.

Early in the week, NBC News and the New York Post reported that Chris Christie would be the Republicans’ featured speaker at their Tampa convention. Mitt Romney’s campaign has refused to confirm the report, though, and Christie himself was mum on the subject when questioned on Thursday. Also on Thursday, the Boston Globe reported that an Obama campaign official had confirmed that Elizabeth Warren was a candidate to deliver the Democratic keynote speech in Charlotte.

While there’s no guarantee they’ll be chosen, but Christie and Warren are unusually obvious and logical candidates for the slots. Both have exploded onto the national scene during the Obama presidency by articulating their party’s basic message and values with more charisma and precision than anyone else – including, arguably, their parties’ nominees.